Widow's Award From Csx Upheld

Second Trial Exploring Punitive Damages

July 24, 1997|By NOREEN MARCUS Staff Writer

Whatever happens in the Hollywood satellite courthouse, Angelica Palank will get at least $6.1 million from CSX Transportation Inc. for the negligence that led to a gruesome train wreck and left her a widow.

The question now is whether Palank - a mother of two, a recent law school graduate and a Cooper City commissioner - will get a lot more.

He was 35. His wife and two young children heard the news at a Washington train station where they were waiting to start a vacation.

Lawyers for Angelica Palank argue that the railroad was so cheap and careless in maintaining the tracks that inspectors failed for at least seven months to notice the broken pin that led to a failed switch and caused the accident.

For that, they say, CSX should be punished financially.

The three-month trial, a repeat performance for a second jury after the judge declared a mistrial in April, included 55 witnesses and 77 exhibits.

``This case is not just about one woman's battle to bring to justice a corporation that, by its actions, killed her husband,'' said Christian Searcy, who represents Palank with his law partner Gregory Barnhart.

``This case is about the standard of conduct society is going to expect and demand from corporations that are engaging in public transportation in this country,'' Searcy said.

CSX admitted negligence at a first, wrongful death trial that ended with the $6.1 million jury verdict in July 1995. Federal regulators cited CSX for poor track maintenance, inspection and oversight after investigating the derailment.

Lawyers for the railroad say the accident was an aberration and safety has always been a paramount concern. They were scheduled to make their closing arguments today.

On Wednesday, the day Palank's lawyers summed up their case for the seven jurors in Circuit Judge Arthur Franza's courtroom, a panel of the state appeals court in West Palm Beach upheld the $6.1 million award that CSX had challenged as too high.

CSX could try to appeal the ruling to the Florida Supreme Court, but the 4th District Court of Appeal gave no reasoning for a higher court to review. ``They have as much chance as I have in the lottery,'' Franza quipped.

Told about the appeals court's decision just after she got to court on Wednesday, Palank was misty-eyed. ``It's wonderful,'' she said.

The decision's timing was not helpful to her side, however. With jurors waiting outside the courtroom, the lawyers argued whether the defense should be allowed to tell the jury that Palank already has won $6.1 million.

No, said Palank's lawyers, because the appeal is not technically final.

But Franza, saying any appeal is ``dead in the water,'' gave defense lawyers the go-ahead.

If they won that argument, however, they lost another one in the hotly contested litigation. Franza allowed Searcy to tell the jury CSX's net operating income at the time of the accident: $3.8 billion.

Financial information will be pertinent if Palank wins the punitive-damage trial and the jury has to return to decide the amount. If the amount is more than three times the compensatory award, or $18.3 million, the judge could order a reduction.

CSX lawyers argued that Searcy should be prevented from using the $3.8 billion figure in his closing because it is irrelevant and could be prejudicial information.

But Searcy successfully argued that it shows that CSX's decision to save $2.4 billion by cutting back on maintenance for a decade was not a financial necessity.